Pages

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Cast Iron Seared Filet Mignon and Monte Vibiano L'Andrea

There is nothing I love more than a perfectly seared filet mignon. Gabe and I purchase our filet as a whole tenderloin, and I get the fun job of butchering it down. You will usually find filet in our freezer and I save the smaller pieces to make filet tacos or filet chili with.

We both had a fairly hectic day at work the other day and rewarded ourselves with a filet dinner. Since we live in a condo and cannot have a gas grill, I have become good friends with a cast iron skillet. We both now prefer to eat our steaks with this method. It's super easy and only calls for 4 ingredients, Salt, Pepper, Steak and Butter.

Preheat your oven to 450, with a well seasoned cast iron skillet in the oven. Meanwhile, prep your steaks. Blot the steak with a papertowel to remove all moisture. Right before you place the steaks in the oven, season with salt and pepper. You do not want to do this too early, or the salt will bring moisture back to the surface of the steaks.

When the oven is pre-heated, carefully remove the skillet and place on a hot oven eye. Wait 5 minutes, then place your steaks on the cast iron skillet, it will be very hot and be careful not to touch the handle. Do not move the steak for 4 minutes, it will smoke quite a bit. Flip your steak and cook for an additional 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the eye and place the butter on each steak. Place the pan back in the oven for 3 minutes for Medium Rare and 6 minutes for Medium. Let sit for 5 minutes, loosely covered with foil.

Steak is best served with a nice glass bottle of red wine. I was recently introduced to Monte Vibiano, an Italian winery located in Umbria, "The Green Heart of Italy". Monte Vibiano is the first zero emissions vineyard in Umbria and has won several awards for its wine, including the “Tre Bicchieri” 2013 (Three Glasses) for its L’Andrea DOC wine and for Sustainable Viticulture and the Gold Medal for Best Wines of Italy at the Concours Mondial in Brussels 2013.

Monte Vibiano's L'Andrea was one of the best wines I have ever consumed. Luckily, you can order this wine online and it will be delivered right to your doorstep. The L'Andrea is a “Super Tuscan” style of wine, with the distinctive presence of Sangiovese, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon,Merlot and other red grapes.

If you don't believe me on how amazing this wine was, Monte Vibiano holds the record for highest auction sale of an Italian wine. At the Pratham UK Charity Auction in London 2011, a bidder purchased a bottle of Monte Vibiano’s L’Andrea wine in an artisan Murano glass bottle for 70,000 euros. The money was donated to educational programs for underprivileged children in India.